DA Horse Gifts & Horse Art www.DressageArt.com Horse Art & Horse Gifts www.DressageArt.com: Good Conformation for a Dressage Horse

Long humerus (arm bone) dictates how tightly the elbow and lower joints can bend and reach for extension. The humerus is long when it is 50-60% of the length of the scapula. The elbow is beneath the middle of the withers if the humerus is long. A long humerus increases movement of elbow away from torso, both forward and to the side, allowing more tucking over fences and increased stride in speed events. It provides a scaffold for lengthy muscle attachments of flexor and extensor muscles, which contract with greater force to increase power and speed.
Long sloping scapula (shoulder) are better able to absorb concussion during locomotion and horse is able to stay more sound. This is a conformational aspect that have a beneficial effect on soundness.
Shallow angle of pelvis is a good indicator needed for collected movements such as passage and piaffe. If this angle is too big to start with, the horse would be unable to increase it much further to perform these movements. Read more here http://www.usyd.edu.au/su/rirdc/articles/musculo/dressage.htm
Long and forward sloping femur bone (thigh) with an angle ahead of the vertical. Femur, "thigh" or the largest bone of the hind limbs gives a horse a ground covering stride and overstride.
Read more here http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/warmbloodhorses/articles/db-pelvic.shtml

Long pastern with good angle. Often when a horse was trimmed correctly the pastern angle will be the same as the shoulder angle. Long pastern will give the needed suspension and cadence of the dressage horse gaits. Short and straight pasterns predisposing horse to injuries of the fetlock joint, ringbone of the pastern joint and navicular bursitis.